Ian Smith Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Ian, The goods yard is looking really impressive. I love the feeling of space. I must dream up a track plan of my own so that I can get on with something Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 I take the above as a great compliment, I think war gamers take more notice of buildings as they provide cover! KB is my first proper layout and first N scale attempt. Looking at this thread made me wish I had used hand built track as the yard would have been much neater with it. My other layout is entirely urban, as I fancied some variety too. I see the scribing has been set aside for some greenery instead, good idea, marking out thousands of individual stones in 2mm is rewarding, but only when you have finished it! Mine's a first attempt too. The ability to make the track fit whatever plan you have instead of designing a plan to fit predetermined and rigidly unrealistic turnout geometry was the main reason I went for 2mm FS.....along with the potential for better running (if you do it properly, I guess!). The green stuff around the edge of the goods yard is a nice change of construction style from the stonework, but in fairness I enjoy doing the stonework. It's quick, easy and you see the result developing through each stage of the construction. It's a great deal easier than the full size equivalent; although the results of that can be quite pleasing too: Makes your back ache a bit though, at my age! Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Ian, This is looking more and more tasty as the weeks go by. You seem to be exploiting the potential of 2mm, that of the ability to capture space, very well indeed and it is great seeing the progress of the layout (and really quite fast too!). keep it up. Yes, I'm amazed (and envious) how quickly this is taking shape. It really is very nice indeed. Ian, The goods yard is looking really impressive. I love the feeling of space. I must dream up a track plan of my own so that I can get on with something Ian Thanks for your kind words. I'm surprised at the pace it's going too; it kind of takes over your life......... Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Over here that would be called a swimming pool and be hidden behind safety fences with self-locking gates and big signs telling you how to resuscitate small children and animals who fall in! Plus the $300 safety inspection fee. Plus the cost of the water to fill the bloody thing! Nice layout by the way - haven't commented for a couple of days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Over here that would be called a swimming pool and be hidden behind safety fences with self-locking gates and big signs telling you how to resuscitate small children and animals who fall in! Plus the $300 safety inspection fee. Plus the cost of the water to fill the bloody thing! Nice layout by the way - haven't commented for a couple of days. Can do without all that stuff. We just had a pair of ducks take the place over for 3 months and raise 11 babies on it; I even had to build them a house to live in. Didn't scribe the stonework though....... Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Tweed Valley is looking a bit wilder than I remember, Ian! Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Tweed Valley is looking a bit wilder than I remember, Ian! Dave. That's the last place Dave...1500ft up in the North Pennines, not far from Alston. I have seen that pond under 5ft of snow........no railways either, though the NER did plan to tunnel under it at one point, amazingly. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Thought it looked familiar, I used to go up there a lot when Mike's shop was there. Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Thought it looked familiar, I used to go up there a lot when Mike's shop was there. Dave. I used to go in his shop regularly, and wish I had the time and space to give it a go. Now I have retired, we've moved and I have the time and space, the nearest model shop is 70 miles away!! Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Very pretty up there though. My parents are near Applelby. Bloody cold for us namby southern types, especially as high up as you are. I love the look of hand scribed stones, makes sheets look far too regimented. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Hello We had a good day today. My 22 yr old daughter has had 3 job interviews, all for the same job and the last one an eyewatering 2 hrs long, in the last 4 days, so today we met up with her for a couple of hours walking the dog and birdwatching, followed by an excellent lunch in the motorhome. When we got back around 6.30 she rang to say she's been offered the job....her first proper one after uni and working in a supermarket and as a football ground steward. It feels good for me as her dad, so I can imagine how good she must feel. This evening there was a new arrival at Spittal Yard........a Farish 03, which, when it has a finescale chassis (my first!), DG couplings, and a new number and lived-in look, will be one of the 2 resident shunters on the branch, working Spittal Yard and Tweed Dock between them. It arrived just in time to put together the freight for St Boswells, which will head up the Tweed Valley behind a class 24......until I pluck up courage to build a steam loco!! My entire complement of 16 wagons will form the train...can any body spot the homemade one? In a close up shot, the 03 trundles an empty open wagon and the brakevan past the loading bank, before collecting a number of fitted vans, laden with bagged fertiliser for the Tweed Valley farms around Kelso. Quite how it's managing with those wheels and couplings I'm not sure....... I'm hoping the next couple of days will see the groundwork finished in the goods yard; the hard part, doing the stone setts on the road in, has been finished, which is a relief! Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Hello again I had a free day today so have made some more goods yard progress: Some of the glue is still a bit damp, and the track still needs weathering, but it didn't stop a load of fertiliser appearing from one of the factories on the point, and the sacks are about to be loaded into a fairly dilapidated ex-LNER 12 ton van, built in the thirties but still tottering along on the minor routes of the area. This load is going to Wooler on the daily Alnwick pick up goods, using the Kelso line to Cornhill-on-Tweed and then branching to the south on the Alnwick and Cornhill branch: The rather sinister looking barrels in the goods yard are carrying something unpleasant for the chemical works in Spittal; the product is sulphuric acid, but I haven't a clue what goes into it.....I just hope it goes in barrels! Weathering the track and developing the quayside area comes next. There's a water tank to build for the refrigeration unit in the fish market, and some defunct coal staithes where the steam fishing boats used to refuel. By now (1958) they're all motor-driven, and will have a rather swish refuelling point at the small oil depot by Tweed Dock. They'll have to wait for board 3 for that! Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 This is not a criticism but with a layout of this quality, have you got access to some powerful flood lights to take photos? You know us, always wanting more detail!!! Also, sulphuric acid back then might have been carried in large glass carboys. According to a safety manual written in the 1980s transportation of small quantities of acid can be carried in glass carboys up to 20 litre capacity with a wooden or wire frame to protect the glass. Here is a link to some carboys containing liquid refreshments for the passengers of the boat (1901) http://www.shorpy.com/node/8992?size=_original Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold bcnPete Posted February 18, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 18, 2012 Congratulations for your daughter Ian...a proud father and rightly so... The layout is looking tremendous. As Ian says above, with some photographic lights the pics could look even better than it does already...now that would be something. Keep up the great work - its very inspiring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 This is not a criticism but with a layout of this quality, have you got access to some powerful flood lights to take photos? You know us, always wanting more detail!!! Also, sulphuric acid back then might have been carried in large glass carboys. According to a safety manual written in the 1980s transportation of small quantities of acid can be carried in glass carboys up to 20 litre capacity with a wooden or wire frame to protect the glass. Here is a link to some carboys containing liquid refreshments for the passengers of the boat (1901) http://www.shorpy.co...?size=_original Floodlights sadly no; I'll try and improve the lighting next time...maybe then I'll be able to see all the things I need to improve as well. The stuff in the barrels isn't sulphuric acid; even my limited knowledge of chemistry knows what would happen......though it's probably no more dumb than the actual practice of carrying something (quicklime I think) in the holds of coastal cargo vessels in the 1800s, whichburst into flames on contact with water.......needless to say there was the odd accident when a wave washed over the side. The barrels are containing something going into the factory to be used in the process....all I've been able to discover is that at the time of operation the factory imported some kind of rock from Spain and North Africa through Tweed Dock which was used, but I don't know what else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Congratulations for your daughter Ian...a proud father and rightly so... The layout is looking tremendous. As Ian says above, with some photographic lights the pics could look even better than it does already...now that would be something. Keep up the great work - its very inspiring. Thanks for your encouragement Pete. My daughter has, I think, her dream job. She's ridden and owned horses since she was 4, and has a degree in sports marketing and promotion, and she's just been employed by a small, specialist but highly successful company who manufacture fiddly bits to do with horses; don't ask me to explain, I just used to pay the bills and tow the trailer every weekend!! She'll be going to the top shows all over Europe as well as working to develop their marketing strategies. She's rather excited......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hi No floodlights, but a little more detail: Sorry about the shadows! Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Love the details in the brick setts. The yellow moon takes a little getting used to though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold bcnPete Posted February 18, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 18, 2012 My daughter has, I think, her dream job. She's ridden and owned horses since she was 4, and has a degree in sports marketing and promotion, and she's just been employed by a small, specialist but highly successful company who manufacture fiddly bits to do with horses; don't ask me to explain, I just used to pay the bills and tow the trailer every weekend!! She'll be going to the top shows all over Europe as well as working to develop their marketing strategies. She's rather excited......... Fantastic - I wish her every success with this. The new photos look better (aside from the yellow moon where you reside ) but I was just wondering if you use any photo software? I use irfanview, which is a free software and that is really useful for editing photos. I use it to resize images for RMWeb and there is a 'auto colour correction' command which is worth running to see how it affects images. For example (I hope you don't mind) I just ran that on this image and 'sharpen' as well and it gave this: It's subtle...but it has taken some of the yellow out and made the platform more grey I think? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Pete.....thanks for this; the edited pic does look a lot better. Perhaps I'll just send them all to you first......... To be honest this isn't the kind of photography I'm used to. Birds and wildlife with a DSLR and an 800mm lens, or racing cars broadside on at 100 mph I can cope with, but this stuff is new; inside is one problem and the close up stuff is another. My camera now is a superzoom digital compact, a Canon SX30i, and one issue is that the lens gets in the way of the flash in any sort of close range shot, so I'm trying not to use flash when I can. The 35x zoom is great for lots of things, but it has quite a high minimum focussing range, which doesn't help. Macro setting doesn't like working with the zoom either. Perhaps I'll give the powershot G9 a try; it has a more 'normal' lens. The room lights aren't brilliant, but I have a couple of LED lamps and a daylight lamp I can use to try and make it better. Watch this space.........of course, while I'm fiddling around with lights, I won't be moving the railway on, so there'll be no need to take any more photos...........hang on a minute, I'm getting confused. These any better? Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold bcnPete Posted February 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2012 Yup... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold A Murphy Posted February 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2012 Amazing progress. Others have said it, but I love the sense of space.... More please! Best wishes Alastair Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 The latest photo's are fantastic, the whole thing just oozes atmosphere!!! The earlier yellow glow photos were fine too - I thought they must have been taken at sunset :-) Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc256 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Superb progress. How have you done the setts if you don't mind me asking? I'm currently trying a few methods with varying degrees of success. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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